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The Announcement

Rarity paced through the hall waiting for her friends. She had texted each of them this morning to meet her outside the janitor's closet. Today was the fateful day when she would tell her friends her secret. Ironically she would be going into a closet to come out of the closet. But she couldn’t risk going to the band room. It was practically their room since hardly anyone else used it, but it wasn’t theirs and more importantly, it wasn’t private. Cramming seven people into one tiny room was the best way to make sure her secret only came out on her terms.
After three minutes painfully long minutes everyone confirmed that they were coming to meet her. They had even asked if she was okay. It warmed Rarity's heart to know how much her friends cared but it also made her heart ache. She couldn't bear to think of how she would feel if they rejected her. She wanted to believe they wouldn’t, they readily accepted Rainbow Dash but there were some key differences between her and Rainbow. Tears pooled in her eyes and she squeezed them shut. She pulled out her phone to tell the others she’d changed her mind when she heard a high pitched squeal that could only be Pinkie.

She looked up and saw six expectant faces staring at her, each with a mix of concern and curiosity. Rarity sighed, she knew there was no turning back now. She steeled herself and strode into the janitor’s closet knowing the other girls would file in behind her. She had never been more afraid in her life. There had been one other time, the day she’d revealed this same secret to her family. But that had gone wonderfully, she only hoped this would go just as well.

Before long everyone was gathered around her, waiting. She took a deep breath. It was time. No more stalling. She cleared her throat and began to speak.
“Alright girls, I’ve made you all wait long enough. The reason I called you all in here is that I have something I need to tell you. Something I’ve wanted to tell you for a long time now. I should preface this by letting you know that it’s nothing serious and that the only reason I’ve waited this long is simply that I was afraid of how you would react. And that there isn’t any way to say this besides just saying it. But please, I must implore you, let me finish saying my piece before you say anything.”

Rarity waited for each girl to nod her assent before continuing. She tried to remain calm but found herself twisting her hair between her fingers. An old habit she still hadn’t managed to quit but it kept her grounded in the present.

“I’ve kept this secret for about four years now. Five years ago, I told my parents and my little sister. Before that, I’d kept it to myself since I was nine years old. Once the secret was out to my family, I decided I wanted to forget that there was ever a secret in the first place. I spent so long being different that as soon as I had the chance to hide it, I did. It felt so good to be seen as no different than any other girl that I never wanted anyone to know. I didn’t see myself as different anymore and no one else would ever know, so I felt no need to bring it up. But I am not ashamed of who I was or who I became. I’m a clothing designer, a High School senior and I’m a transgender girl.”
Rarity shut her eyes and braced herself for the fallout that was sure to come. The air was still and the room was eerily silent. Rarity felt her heart hammering in her chest. She was shaking and she could barely breathe. She desperately wanted someone to speak and yet was terrified of what she would hear. Nothing changed for what felt like several minutes and suddenly, she got her wish. Her eyes snapped open in shock at the sound of Pinkie’s uncharacteristically angry voice.

“I can't believe you!” Pinkie shrieked in outrage. Her fluffy hair bouncing around as she waved her arms. Rarity shrunk into herself. Despite being a head taller than the other girl she was terrified of this exact reaction. She peeked through one eye at her friend or perhaps her former friend and was surprised to see, not a disgusted sneer but a disappointed pout on her the girl’s face. Rarity opened her mouth to speak when she was cut off by Pinkie’s signature exaggerated whine.

“I mean how could you think WE, your best friends in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD, would stop loving you just because some silly doctor said 'it’s a boy’ when you were born! Especially since we’re all friends with Rainbow Dash too!”

Rarity was stunned. She was just about to tell Pinkie off for playing with her emotions and pretending to be angry at her when she realized that Pinkie was upset with her just not for the reason she’d expected. Pinkie wasn’t angry at her because she was trans. She didn’t think Rarity had tricked her into befriending a boy. Pinkie was upset because she didn’t trust that the girls she’d been friends with for years would be accepting of her. It must’ve been a huge shock for Rarity to effectively confess that she’d been hiding an integral part of herself because she didn’t trust them. The more she thought about it the worse she felt. She had been hurt the last time she came out to her friends, but that was a long time ago and those were different friends. After everything they've been through together, how could she think it would be anything like before? She should’ve known her old friends were nowhere near the same league as her new ones. Rarity felt the knot in her stomach return full force. Only this time it wasn’t fear, but guilt that made her feel like she was drowning in wet cement.
Rarity supposed she should’ve known better especially given that Rainbow Dash was completely open about being trans. But she was so sure that they were different. Rainbow had been a girl since before Rarity knew she was one and everyone accepted Rainbow. They had the same group of friends! Why did she think she would get pitchforks and torches when Rainbow Dash was more than welcome?

Before she knew what she was doing, a laugh bubbled out of her throat. Then a louder, more hysterical laugh. Before long she was letting out harsh almost shrieking laughs and tears poured down her face, undoubtedly ruining her makeup. In the back of her mind, she thought she must’ve looked insane, crying and howling with laughter crammed into a tiny janitor’s closet. She barely composed herself when Applejack finally broke the silence.
“Uh, Sugarcube… you feelin’ alright?”
"Oh!” Rarity cleared her throat. "Yes, of course, darling. I’m fine, thank you.”

Rainbow Dash’s typically impatient voice cut in. "Then what was that all about!” Rainbow Dash had her hands on her hips and frowned at her. She tapped her foot getting more exasperated by the second. Rarity’s eyes darted around the room as she tried to come up with a satisfying answer. She normally thrived under pressure but this time Rarity was coming up blank. She would have to just tell the truth and hope her friends didn’t think she sounded too crazy.

“Oh! Well, um I was just thinking… about how silly this all was. Here I was getting myself all worked up expecting to be cast out of the group in exile and it was just ridiculous! After all that, it turned out that you were all more upset with me for keeping a secret than the secret itself. So I just couldn’t help but laugh at the whole thing.”
“Um... do you think we could get out of here now? If that’s okay.” Fluttershy spoke up from her corner of the tiny room. At once the seven girls were reminded that they were practically standing on each other and shuffled toward the door.
“I think leaving would be quite alright. I think I’ve spent far too much time in the closet anyway.” Rarity winked and giggled at her joke. The others all but roared with laughter.

Everyone filed out of the closet after Rarity who was still quietly laughing.
“Good one Rarity! You do know this means we have to make a bunch more jokes like this. Especially after you tell everyone else.”
Rarity stopped mid-stride. She was so caught up enjoying the moment with her friends that she forgot all about the big reveal she was planning to make during her segment of the morning announcements. As if sensing her mounting anxiety, Sunset wrapped an arm around her shoulders and spoke gently.
“We'll be right there with you just behind the camera. We're proud of you Rarity. You're being incredibly brave.”
Twilight copied the gesture and added. “You shouldn't worry too much Rarity. The camera loves you! And of course, so do we!”
Once again, the girls moved in for a much-needed group hug then made their way into the room for the announcements. Just like before Rarity felt her anxiety creeping up on her. The waiting was always worse than the announcement. She even had a speech prepared for this moment. She knew that this was something she had to get just right. She needed to say everything in a way that would make sense to people who didn’t share her experience, who didn’t know her personally. There would undoubtedly be questions and she wouldn’t be able to answer them in the few minutes she would have so her speech would have to encompass as many of those questions as possible without being tangential. She had a monumental task before her, revealing personal information and representing her identity to the people who had likely only known one out trans person. That absolutely would not do, as that person would have to be Rainbow Dash, and the only thing Rarity had in common with her was a few letters in their names.
Finally, it was time for her segment, she could feel her pulse quickening but felt herself relax again as she saw her friends giving her reassuring grins and several thumbs up.
The camera cut to her and she readied her cards just out of the camera’s view.
“Hello everyone, it’s me Rarity, with the latest fashion trends.”
She pulled something out of her bag and hid it from the camera. Even her friends didn’t know she had this planned. But she had to, how else could she make her coming out relevant to a fashion announcement. Rarity had struggled with that for a while but she was nothing if not creative.
“The newest fashion trend is… stripes!”
Rarity pulled out the flag and held it out so the camera could capture it properly. Behind the camera, her friends all shared looks of surprise and delight. She thought Rainbow Dash looked especially thrilled. Casting a small smile their way, she started her speech.
“This particular pattern of stripes is very important to me. For those of you who don’t know, what I am holding in my hand is the transgender pride flag. The blue, pink, and white stripes respectively, represent transgender men, women and nonbinary people, people who are neither men nor women and people who are some combination of woman, man, or neither. I, myself, am transgender. Much like my dear friend Rainbow Dash whom many of you know, I came to this conclusion very early in my life and have lived as my best self for several years. Unlike Rainbow Dash, however, I chose to keep my identity a secret throughout High School. Now I want to be clear that I did not make that choice to deceive anyone, nor was I ashamed of my identity. I have always seen myself as a girl with many facets to my personality, many talents, and interests that I felt would be overlooked if people knew that I was trans. For better or worse, I would be seen differently than other girls and I felt that making such a distinction would be inaccurate. Now I know that I should allow myself to be seen as different, as no two people are the same. I also know now that our differences are what make us interesting people and by keeping this to myself, I was doing the very thing I wanted to avoid. I’m more than happy to share this interesting part of myself with you all and I hope that I’ve set a precedent for self-acceptance, unity and of course, pride. This was Rarity with your latest fashion trends.”

The moment the camera was turned off, the room erupted into thunderous applause and cheers. Before she could react Rarity was scooped up by Applejack and thrown into the air. The scream barely escaped her throat before she fell into the waiting arms of the rest of her friends. On it went, twice more before they finally set her back down. She was panting in the most unladylike fashion but her sheer joy outweighed her desire for poise. She felt happier than she had in years now that she no longer had this secret hanging over her head. She was telling the truth when she said she wasn’t ashamed of being trans but since she first started her transition there had been an ever-present fear of being outed against her will. Now it was finally over, she could enjoy being herself and even if someone did give her a hard time, she had an amazing support system.

As much as she wanted to stay there and bask in the moment, the day had only just begun. They all had classes to go to and activities to prepare for. This would be the first time Rarity faced the student body as a trans girl, but for the first time since waking up that morning, she wasn’t the least bit anxious.

Author's Note:

Sorry for the hiatus. I planned to have most of the story finished before publishing this chapter but that didn't happen. I'll try to update more regularly from now on.

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